Archive page 19

Once seen as a lifeline for small businesses, publicly funded food delivery apps are shutting down across South Korea. Poor design, weak infrastructure, and lack of sustained strategy reveal a deeper problem: local governments are still treating digital services as short-term campaigns.

Without shared vision, joint governance, or coordinated economic policy, the Busan–Ulsan–Gyeongnam bloc risks becoming a symbol of what regionalism should avoid: scale without strategy.

Busan has rebranded itself as a global, good-looking city—complete with AI-generated images, sleek slogans, and media-friendly urban design. But behind the aesthetics lies a growing silence. In its pursuit of visibility, is the city losing its voice?

A growing number of sinkholes near the Hadan–Sasang subway construction site are raising concerns about Busan’s broader underground transit strategy. As new projects like the Hadan–Noksan line and BuTX move forward, questions mount.

A five-part inquiry into the fate of human reflection in a world designed for speed, prediction, and interruption.

In its rush to modernize, Busan has developed a habit of building not toward its past, but around it. From Haeundae in the 1990s to Gangseo today, the city has preferred expansion over reinvestment—choosing new land over old neighborhoods, and visibility over inclusion.

South Korea has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Asia, but its drinking problem doesn’t look like chaos—it looks like composure. Soju, once a communal spirit, has evolved into a quiet, everyday anesthetic, deeply woven into food, media, and workplace culture.

Busan’s RISE program ambitiously seeks to revitalize regional universities, but with 20 institutions and 122 projects under one banner, the initiative risks scattering limited resources across a fragmented landscape.